


Come and visit Trüberbrook - For a perfect summer vacation!

by How0_0



Category: Trüberbrook (Video Game)
Genre: Motorcycles, Vandalism, dialogue from the game, follows the story, more tags to come, so many spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-19
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2020-01-16 11:18:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18520390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/How0_0/pseuds/How0_0
Summary: Tannhauser desperately needs a break. When a stranger letter addressed to him said that he'd won the lottery, it didn't take long before he was standing in an idyllic small town in Germany.--------I'm gonna keep writing while I play the game. Enjoy <3This is basically just a playthrough, except it's written down.





	1. The Gas Station

**Author's Note:**

> !I don't own any of these characters, nor the game!

An abandoned gas station in the middle of nowhere isn’t the worst place to be stranded. It’s in the top ten, but there are definitely worse placed to be stuck. Plus, the night sky looks very beautiful when there is only two light nearby. Well, one light and a broken neon sign reading “gas station”. 

 

The reason she stopped at this gas station was, you guessed it, to get some gas for her motorcycle. When it started sputtering a couple of moment before, she got very lucky to find a gas station that close by. Almost like the motorcycle had been waiting for a perfect time and place to finally break down. There may be one other very big reason for stopping at that time. Her bike was overheated. If she didn’t find some way to fix that, she would have to spend more time at the gas station. Not that it was the worst place to spend the night, and she’d definitely spend the night in worse settings, but she hadn’t really planned on it, and so it wasn’t that welcome in her journey. 

 

And, as if she needed more misfortune, the gas pumps weren’t working. Great. 

 

She looked to the window. A big glass pane, that opened the store up to the rest of the world. In the daytime, it was probably very useful, but right now she couldn’t see anything inside the store. While looking at the window, she remembered something her dad used to say. 

  
_ A flawless establishment needs flawless window panes. _

 

If the windows truly were something to judge a store based on, then this store wasn’t the best she’d ever seen. Of course, she already knew that by looking at the rest of it, but the windows weren’t that nice either. Kind of dirty, and, since it was night, she couldn’t even see anything through them, which meant that they were useless. 

 

In a few steps, she was standing by a pile of tires, that lay outside the store. Not that she needed any new tires. Her old ones should still last her a couple of miles. But when something was just lying about in the nighttime, they almost begged for someone to investigate them. She looked closer, but the tires really didn’t seem that interesting. 

 

Thankfully, a sign post only a few meters away did seem interesting. Maybe that could make up for the boring nature of the tires. Hansen’s ice cream. An old brand, that had been up and running since her childhood. She remembered summers spent sitting on old picnic blankets, eating Hansen’s ice cream and listening to her dad tell his old stories. The good old days. 

 

Now she was really intrigued. If there was a sign for ice creams, maybe there would be actual ice creams somewhere nearby. She looked around. And yes! Just a bit to her right was an old ice cream container. With the same pink logo as the sign she’d just looked at, it was truly a Hansen’s ice cream container. She looked around, but there was no one anywhere. With a swift movement, her hand was already on the lid. In just a moment, she would be able to eat all the ice cream she wanted. But not this day. The lid was frozen shut. Maybe one day, she could eat some ice cream again. 

 

Speaking of picnics, there was a picnic table right next to the ice cream container. Sitting under the only light out there, and looking a bit dirty. Maybe if there hadn’t been so much sand, ruble, the smell of gasoline, and the thousands upon thousands of dead bugs, that table would have been perfect for a picnic. Unfortunately she hadn’t brought any cleaning supplies. Maybe the next time she passed by here. If she would ever pass by again. Probably not, though. 

 

There weren’t any lights on in the store, but she didn’t want to just go in without at least trying to make her presence known. 

  
“Hello? Anybody in there? I could really use some gas.”

 

As expected, there was no answer. It was getting a bit cold outside, and if there wasn’t anybody in the store, then no one would know if she spent the night inside instead of outside. Her hand met the door handle, and she pulled it. Locked. Of course. 

 

Well, she better get used to the cold, if she was going to stay out there until the morning. She sat down at the table, and looked up towards the night sky. With the few lamps out there, it was very easy to see a bunch of the constellations. Some of them seemed familiar, but others looked like something she’d never seen before. 

 

While she was staring at the stars, she noticed a pipe running from the roof to the ground. Not that it got much use. She couldn’t imagine that rain happened too often in these parts. Maybe she could make some music with it. Making a rhythm with this water pipe could be a way to spend the night. With the first punch, she saw something drop on the ground. It shined in the light of the one lamp. 

  
A replacement key. What a convenient place to put the key. Almost like they wanted it to be found. She bend down and picked up the key. She could use this to get inside the gas station. Surely, if she used a key, it couldn’t possibly be considered a break in, right? No matter what, she had a key now. And she would be insane if she wasn’t going to use it on that door. 

 

She took out the key and tried it in the lock. It fit perfectly. When she turned it in the lock, it made a click, and the door swung open. Perfect. 

 

When she walked inside, it was incredibly dark. So dark that she almost couldn’t even see her own hands. If only there was some kind of light switch around here. It didn’t seem like there was anything of the sorts inside the store, so she turned back around and walked out the store. 

 

The night sky greeted her with its countless stars and the constellations that connected them. Surely, she would be able to see something she hadn’t seen before. Maybe a clue, that could lead her to turn in the light inside the station. 

 

Looking back at the picnic table, sitting right next to the door, she actually did notice something she hadn’t before. A tool box. A big, red toolbox. How she didn’t see it before, that would remain a mystery. The important thing was that she saw it then. When she opened it, she only found some rusty pliers. She picked them up. She didn’t yet know what she could use if for, but she was sure that she would find something. 

 

She walked around for a while, but when she couldn’t figure out what to do, she went back inside to escape the cold. The poster by the door looked odd, and she took it off the wall to get a better look at it. Maybe it was a picture she’d seen before. Hm. Holding it in her hands, she didn’t really see anything about it that could be considered weird or suspicious. 

 

She motioned to put the picture back in the wall, but then she saw something she hadn’t noticed before. A switch on the wall where the picture used to be! It must have been hidden by the picture. Why somebody would want to hide a light switch was a mystery to her, but if that’s the decor that the owners wanted, then she wasn’t really in any position to complain. She had broken into their gas station, after all, so it would be a bit rude to also complain about their decorations. 

 

Finally, there was light in the store. She looked around. It looked like a pretty normal store. There was a counter in the corner, with some food behind the glass and a couple of trinkets standing behind it. One thing that really caught her eye was the coffee maker standing behind the counter. If there’s something she can’t stand, it’s cherry pie and hot coffee. Something about that combination made her nauseous just thinking about it. 

 

When she moved closer to the counter, she saw that it was pretty dusty. It seemed that the inside of the store wasn’t that well kept, just like the outside. Standing on the counter next to some other-store-bought buns, was a cherry pie! Holding back a noise of disgust, she quickly looked away from the pie.

 

There was a poster on the wall with the menu on. When she looked in her wallet, there was only a few Deutschmarks. Nothing she could use to purchase anything on this menu. Everything was too expensive. Not that there was anybody around to sell her anything even if she could afford it. But if there was anybody, then she still wouldn’t be able to buy something. 

 

Standing at the end of the counter, close to the wall, was a bunch of postcards with pictures of the surrounding attractions. She doubted that anyone would want to send a postcard from this gas station, but one of them actually looked useful. A card with a map of the surrounding area. Since there still wasn’t anyone in the store, and the postcard-stand looked rather dusty, she figured that nobody would miss a single postcard. With a quick movement, the postcard was now in her backpack. 

 

What a fine collection she’d gotten. Some rusty pliers and a postcard. Truly, she was ready for anything. 

 

She looked at the table closest to the counter, and saw a cup. It was lying on the table. Nothing was in it, thank god, so she moved to pick it up. One man’s trash is another man’s convenient holder for some rusty pliers, after all. 

 

An old jukebox in the corner of the room caught her attention, and in a few quick steps, she was standing in front of it. Since the power was now on, it wasn’t too difficult to turn it on, and soon the room was filled with a creepy tune. 

 

_ Not that ghastly tune again. _ She’d heard that exact piece of music on the radio when she was driving towards this gas station. Maybe the people nearby just really enjoyed weird music that sounded like it belonged in a cheap haunted house. 

 

She’d already spent a long time inside the closed gas station, and she was getting a bit antsy, so she decided to go outside and look at the stars again. On her way out the door, she saw some electrical cables. With nothing else to do, and while ignoring the voice in her head that told her that  _ this is not her property _ and  _ she can’t just break anything she wants _ , she took out her pliers and cut the cables. 

 

It didn’t seem to do anything. She shrugged her shoulders and exited the store. 

 

Already one step out the door, and something already happened. Her feet were wet. 

 

“Oh, come on!” She exclaimed, and bowed down to look at what had happened. It seemed like the freezer wasn’t freezing anymore. Maybe it hadn’t been the best idea to cut some electrical wires without knowing what was going to happen. 

 

She looked at the freezer, which technically wasn’t freezing anything at the moment.  _ Cold water is leaking out _ , she thought. Maybe she could use that to cool down her bike. Then she only needed to find some gas before she could carry on with her journey. 

 

The only thing she needed was something to carry the water with. She could probably try to carry it with her hands, but a lot of it would most likely leak out, and she would be left with nothing but wet hands. Not a good idea. She opened her backpack to see if there was anything useful, and immediately saw the cup. A cup was the perfect vessel for transporting water somewhere. Now, one man’s trash would be her way of transporting water. The world truly is a marvelous place. 

 

The cup was now filled to the brink with ice cold water. The perfect thing for cooling down her overheated bike. Carefully, as to not spill any of the water, she walked towards her broken-down bike. 

 

She poured the water over the motor.  _ There you go. Have some cool-aid.  _ Ha ha, puns. 

 

Maybe the pumps would be working now that she’d turned on the power. That made sense, right? And lo and behold, the pumps were finally working. She filled her bike with reckless abandon, not even thinking about the price for a second. 

 

_ Finally, we’re able to get out of here again. _

 

She swung into the seat, and turned on the motor. Or, she would’ve turned on the motor, if that damn bike wanted to start already. It must be that damned oil pipe again. It was always acting up at the worst of times. Looks like there was no other way than staying the night at that old gas station and hoping that someone would be there in the morning. 

 

Hopefully the rest of her journey would be a little more peaceful that this had been. Just a bit of peace and quiet, right? 


	2. Trüberbrook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tannhauser makes it to Trüberbrook after a long bus ride. Now he just needs to get his hotel room, and he'll be all set!

The bus had been driving for hours on end, and Tannhauser really needed to stretch his legs. Long car rides had never been a problem for him, but he definitely prefers it when he is the one behind the steering wheel. 

 

Finally, the bus stopped at a station out in the middle of nowhere. It didn’t seem like there was actually anything anywhere around here. Nothing but a small house a couple of meters away from him. That, and also a signpost a bit away from the bus stop. 

 

“You sure this is the right place?”

 

No one answered, as the bus had already left, and was on the was back to wherever busses go. Maybe a bus stop somewhere, where they all gather around and talk about what passengers they drove around today. Maybe they even play bridge. 

 

“When’s the next bus back to the city?”

 

Again, there was no answer. I don’t know who he thought was going to answer him the second time he called out, but no matter what he was expecting, he was probably a bit disappointed. Well, when life gives you lemons. He decided to do something, instead of just standing around and looking upset. He pulled out his recorder, and started talking into it. 

 

“Beverly, I have arrived. I feel spewn out into the most barren, dark corner of Europe.”

 

It’s true that there weren’t that many buildings around him at the moment, but maybe calling it the most barren, dark corner of Europe was a bit rude. 

 

“All things considered, this could most likely be the best.. Vacation.. Ever..”

 

The best vacation ever, and also one of the only vacations he’d taken since he was in high school. You don’t get that much time off when you’re working on your Ph.d. 

 

“Feeling chilled out already.”

 

That was the truth. He was feeling very chilled out. Not only because of the bus ride to this place, where he basically slept through the entire trip, but also because of the beautiful scenery. When you’re in settings like those, even the most stressed out people will be feeling chilled out. 

 

On the bus stop was a couple of signs. They were both maps. The first one was covering more area than the second one, but they both covered this place, and some of the surrounding area. He looked at the first one.  _ The next ‘city’ is like a thousand miles away. _ In case of an emergency, it would be rather difficult to get some help. Not that he was planning on getting in an accident, but it was just nice to be prepared. Just in case something happened. 

 

The other map was of the small town, Trüberbrook, and some surrounding area.  _ Ah, yes.  _ He thought.  _ That’s where I am. _ Very nice. Always good to know where you are. 

 

He picked up his suitcase and began walking. He’d have to start going somewhere sometime, and better now than never. He passed the street light, and left the bus stop behind him.  _ The bus stop. My gateway to the outside world. _

 

He walked for a little bit, and saw a dock by the lake. The lake, and everything around it, seemed to be nestled in the mountains. The steel grey water would probably have been perfect for swimming in if it wasn’t that chilly.  _ Brr. Looks cold. _ Yes it did. Very cold, indeed. The trees all around the lake cast their images onto the water, which meant that he could see the mountains two times. Once over the water, and once in the water. What a wonderful world we live in. 

 

He spent a couple of the minutes looking at the water. Now, he was feeling even more chilled out than before. If he wasn’t careful, he’d completely forget what work even means. 

 

When he left the dock, there was a small boat lying right next to him. It was obvious that it hadn’t been used in a while, but it still made him think of all the times it’d been used. Sunny days out on the lake, fishing and laughing. Ahh. That wouldn’t be too bad. Actually, that would be incredible. He’d never really wanted to fish, never even tried it, but there was something aesthetically pleasing about fishing from a small boat in a lake that was in the middle of the mountains.  _ That would probably be a great photo _ , he thought. 

 

He walked towards the tiny shop, and saw a sign hanging on the side. It looked old, and it was made from a piece of wood. The words were painted on with red paint, and all the letters were big.

 

PADDLE BOAT RENTAL. ONE HOUR, ONE DM.

 

Someone must be really enthusiastic about renting out paddle boats. He had some money, but even if he wanted to rent the old boat, there was no people in the shop to assist him. When he looked closer at the shop, he saw a sign that said “closed”.  _ No rowing for me then _ .

 

There was a signpost a bit from the closed shop. It said “Trüberbrook”, and also a bunch about how far away Trüberbrook was. Not too far away, but it would still be a bit of a hike getting there. On the signpost was a hiking map of the region. He saw that Trüberbrook was the only place he could go, and he prepared himself for the short hike. He also noticed that the top half of the map had been ripped off. He wondered why someone ripped it off, and then he stopped wondering, because he figured it had nothing to do with him. 

 

There was another sign in the distance, but, even when he went close to it, he couldn’t figure out what it was. It probably didn’t matter too much, otherwise he would surely be able to see what was on it.  _ No matter _ . He started walking, and didn’t stop before he reached Trüberbrook. 

 

\--------

 

Tannhauser finally arrived. He’d severely overestimated the shape he was in, and when he finally arrived to the small town, he was extremely out of breath. He kind of forgot to exercise while working on his ph.d. Maybe he should take that up again, when he was finally done with the ph.d. Until then, he should probably document what had just happened. Even if nothing had really happened. He took out his recorder, and began:

 

“Arrived at destination after a short walk: Trüberbrook. A tranquill little town. Seems a bit run down.”

 

_ A bit run down, _ He thought.  _ More like abandoned. _ It was true. The only living things he’d seen in the short while he was standing there had been two crows and a single fox. The fox wasn’t in the forest, though. It was lying in the middle of the town. Maybe that was normal for a small town in the outskirts of Germany. Maybe it wasn’t. He definitely wasn’t going to try to shoo it away. 

 

“I must say, beverly: I absolutely fell in love with this town already.”

 

That was the absolute truth. No matter how odd the houses looked, or how many forest animals were lying around, it was a very lovely town. Especially in the autumn light. Everything just had a way of looking even more cozy when the leaves around it was varying shades of brown and orange. 

 

He looked around the town, and noticed a wooden fence. The fence reminded him of his old neighbourhood. The people were very private, which meant that tall, wooden fences were all the rage. If your house didn’t have a wooden fence around it, then it was almost like you’d just taken off all your clothes in a shopping centre. Very weird, and people would definitely try to avoid you at all costs. 

 

When he walked into the town square, the fox/cat ran away, and the crow sitting on a statue in the middle of town flew hastily away. Oh, and also there was a statue standing in the middle of the town. Well, statue and statue. It was a suit of armor, which looked to be very old, standing with his sword raised high. It was glorious, and extremely rusty. If someone tried to move it, it would probably be heard all the way to Berlin. Almost. At the very least, the people in the nearby houses would hear it, which is almost the same thing. 

 

Right behind the weird statue was a store, or maybe it was just someone who really liked displaying their items. In any case, there was a selection of local charcuterie on display: Wurstebrei. Stippgrütze. Schlachteplatte. Potthucke. Tote Oma. Everything a growing boy needs. And even if you weren’t a growing boy, after eating everything displayed you’d certainly grow a bit. 

 

On the next house over, or the same house I guess since they’re stuck together, there was a huge sign over a big door. It was a movie theater! If ever anything deserved to be recorded, it was definitely this.

 

“Beverly, I discovered the local movie theater, ‘Möbius  Palast’. The favourite genres around here appear to be Western and Noire.”

 

It wasn’t his own favourite genres, but then nobody forced him to watch the movies, so there really wasn’t anything he could complain about. 

 

On the wall by the cinema was a poster, showing the movie that was currently in the theater. It seemed to be a sci-fi kind of movie. With a name of “The time-travelling machine”, it was difficult to think that it could be any other kind of movie. It might be a film about a machine that falls in love with another machine from the past, which would technically make it a romance, but that was a bit of a far reach. 

 

At the far end of the town was a big house. He read a sign that was hanging over the door.  _ This must be the place _ . Finally, he’d found the hotel be was looking for. He was so ready for relaxation of the highest degree. On the other side, there was a board near the hotel with a bunch of papers on it.  _ Must.. investigate..! _ It was hard to argue with that kind of logic, so he decided that relaxing could wait another minute. This was, surely, more important.

 

He walked to the board, and passed a lamp on the way. It was a very pretty lamp, but otherwise not worth too much investigation. 

 

On the board was a bunch of papers. Mostly with small ads, postings and other kinds of announcements. But one of the papers was unlike any of the others. First of, it was bigger than the rest. It also had really big letters, that said:

 

TOWN FAIR

 

_ Oooh, they are holding a town fair soon. _ Town fairs usually brought people together in such a manner, that they had to at least pretend to be nice to each other, which made it fun to be a part of when you are a tourist.  _ Exciting! _ He really meant that. 

 

Now, he was finally ready to enter the hotel, and begin on the relaxing he’d been waiting for. Not that he wasn’t already chilled out. But, when on vacation, one can’t get  _ too _ chilled out. 

 

\--------

 

“Evening!” He said, as he entered the hotel. There was noone at the desk, but a woman was sitting in one of the chairs, reading a newspaper. She looked up at him.

  
“Hey.” She answered, and then went back to her reading. Tannhauser didn’t want to bother her, so he turned around and was now standing by the desk. After putting his suitcase on the floor, he saw a bell sitting on the table and decided to ring it. 

 

♩Ding ♩

 

It echoed through the room, but there was no other answer. 

 

“Nobody there, huh?” The woman from before said, while still reading her newspaper. He admired how she was able to do two things at once. Something he could only dream of doing. 

 

“Doesn’t seem so” He looked around a bit, but he couldn’t see any people hiding behind the counter. He couldn’t see that far, but surely nobody could be hiding in that small space that wasn’t seeable by him. How he would react if there really had been someone hiding behind there.. Well, that was a problem for another time. 

 

There might not be people hiding behind the desk, but there sure was a bunch of fishing rods. Maybe the people who managed the hotel had tried fishing in the lake he’d passed on the way to town. Fishing was still a mystery to him, but maybe they would be so kind as to explain how it worked to him. 

 

Behind the counter was also a holder for all the keys used in the hotel. They were all still there, so they must not have that many visitors. On a small folded piece of paper standing on the counter, he read:  _ Please ring bell for service! _

 

He’d already ringed the bell, and he was yet to get any service. He definitely wouldn’t do it again just because some piece of paper told him to. Who did it think it was? Some important piece of paper? Probably. But he still wouldn’t do as it said!

 

Well, if there was nothing else to do, might as well strike up a conversation with the woman in the corner. Who was still reading. Miraculous!

 

“Where is anyone?” What a wonderful way to start a conversation. 

 

“I saw someone here just a minute ago.”

 

That was it. She went back to her reading, and he was to socially anxious to ask more about who she saw. The only thing left to do was to swallow his pride and ring that stupid bell. His steps had never seemed that heavy, and it was only after a long minute that he was again standing in front of the dreaded bell. 

 

Trying to avoid having to ring the bell, he decided to first call out again. Maybe they just didn’t hear him. 

  
“Hello?”

 

No answer.  _ I’m not gonna give up. _ Finally, it was time to ring the bell. His hands were trembling, and he could feel a drop of sweat on his temple. 

 

♩Ding ♩

 

He somehow managed to keep his shock contained when a woman popped up from behind the counter. On the outside, he looked like he had been expecting this all along, but on the inside he was on the brink of peeing his pants. 

 

“What can I help you with, darling?”

  
“Umm.. There’s a room reserved for me,” He began. “You know, the lottery? I won a stay over here.”

 

“You won?” She said and looked at him a bit strange. “How can you win a stay in Trüberbrook?”

 

“Well, actually I don’t really remember taking part in any lottery myself…” He said, and reached into his jacket pocket. “... Yet i received this winning notification.”

 

He actually had never entered any lottery, in his entire life. So when a ticket to Trüberbrook was mailed to him, he did think that it was a bit strange. But the mailman seemed sure that it was the correct address, and it was his name on the letter. A bit strange maybe, but a very welcome surprise. 

  
“What was the name again?”

 

“Hans Tannhauser. T. A. N…”

 

“Tannhauser, Tannhauser… Elevenhauser…” God, people here really love their puns. “Dr. Hans Tannhauser, oh yes, here we have it.”

 

“Uhm, say, is it a quiet room?”

 

“Seeking some peace and quiet, mh?” She said, and, again, looked at him like he was something completely different than other people. 

 

“Well, I’m working on a text and I could really use some serenity.”

  
“Text? Are you a kind of writer or something?”

 

“I’m a physicist.” He said. He was actually a bit proud of that. It’s not everyone who can call themselves a physicist. Some people can’t even pronounce it. “Right now, I’m writing a paper. On quantum physics.” He was also proud of that.

 

“I’ve heard worse.”  _ Ouch _ . “You arrived just in time for the big anniversary celebration. Trüberbrook is a bit noisier than usual around these days. But apart from that, I’d say you have nothing to worry about in terms of disturbance.”

 

She reached back and took a key from the hanger. 

 

“Here’s your key, Dr. Tannhauser. My name is Trude, by the way.”

 

“If you don’t mind, where are all the other guests?” He hadn’t seen anyone else, other than the woman still reading in the corner. She had her nose buried so far in the newspaper that it was a miracle her glasses hadn’t fallen off yet. 

 

“Let’s put it this way: The season in Trüberbrook is already over.”

 

Apparently, nothing more could be said about that. Not wanting to stick around and make it awkward, he turned away from the counter.  _ I got the impression the season’s been over quite some time.  _

 

Well, he had no time to waste. Relaxing takes a great deal of work, and the task right now was getting to his room. He had the key, and, after he picked it up, he also had his suitcase. He was finally, finally ready for the vacation he had been waiting for. Now, just for sleeping and getting more chilled out than he already was. 


	3. A Thief!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tannhauser wakes up to find an unwanted visitor in his room. Then the unwanted visitor takes off with his important papers.

There are a lot of things the nighttime can be used for. Late night movies in the cinema. Starlit walks through parks with friends. And, apparently, sneaking into strangers hotel rooms to steal their items. Most people probably wouldn’t do the latter, but the man currently crouching on his floor, rummaging through his items, was not like most people. 

 

Since the only source of light was the moon, and Tannhauser wasn’t completely awake yet, he didn’t notice that many details about the man in his room. Only that he was a man, in his room, and that he left in a hurry, as one would assume many people would do when caught stealing. There was actually one strange thing about his exit. Tannhauser didn’t actually see him go out the door. It might just be because he was still sleepy, but a strange voice in his head told him differently. Or, actually, it told him:  _ Please! You’ve got to help me! _

 

A strange thing to hear in the middle of the night. At least, Tannhauser wasn’t used to hearing that it the middle of the night. It might be a common occurrence in Trüberbrook, but he was really doubting it. When he finally felt clear enough in the head to start reacting to what just happened, he got out of bed, and stood by his briefcase. The strange man had been crouching by that same briefcase, which was evident by the fact that the briefcase was open, and its contents were messed up in the briefcase. 

 

_ Did that guy just disappear with my paper?  _ It would appear so, but one can never be too sure. So he did as anyone would do. Took out his recorder, and started talking into it. 

 

“Something unusual happened.” He started, deciding to go with an understatement about what had happened. “There was an uninvited guest in my room tonight. Now that he’s escaped, I’m going to chase him down!” 

 

An interesting decision when you think about that his previous goal had been to relax for the entire holiday. It truly is amazing how much a small robbery can change your plans. 

 

He was determined about catching that thief, and nothing could make him turn around. Except for when he turned around to look at some weird marks on the floor. He hadn’t noticed them before, but now that his head was finally clear, he saw a bunch of odd footsteps on the floor. It was glowing in the half-lit bedroom, and upon closer inspection, it seemed to be some kind of goo. Where someone would get glow-in-the-dark goo under their feet was not common knowledge. At least not to him. 

 

With the determination and adrenaline still coursing through his veins, he went out the door in pursuit of the thief. When he went out the door, he heard a crashing sound, but as previously stated, nearly nothing could make him turn back. 

 

\--------

 

The entrance looked like it had the previous evening. Nothing looked like it had been meddled with, but the footprints on the floor were still leading the way for him. They led out the door, though they were slightly losing their colour. He hurried across the floor and out the front door. 

 

“Darkest night. In the pale starlight, this village appears to be composed of jagged silhouettes and loneliness.”

 

His eyes were still trying to get used to the darkness, but he still needed to find the man who’d been in his room. He started walking towards along the footprints on the ground, when a voice broke the silence.

 

“Psst!” It said, “Hey there. Taking a little night stroll?”

 

A woman stepped out from the shadows. He couldn’t see her clearly in the darkness, but what he could see was that her hair was very red. Or maybe it was orange? It definitely shone through in the night. 

 

“Someone... was in my room.” He told her. While he still wasn’t quite certain that someone had actually been in his room, and that he didn’t just dream the entire thing, now he could feel the sting of the cold air. Someone once told him that you can’t feel pain in dreams, and this cold was definitely feeling like a thousand needles on his skin. 

 

“You only just got here and you already have secret admirers?”

 

“No. It was a burglar, I think.”

 

“Well, I haven’t seen anybody sneaking around here…” She said. He didn’t know how long she’d been standing there, but it was a bit odd that she hadn’t seen the man running out the hotel.  “But if I were you I would probably follow these somewhat extremely obvious footprints...”

 

“You’ve got a point there. Please excuse me.” He’d already been following the obvious footprints. All the way from his room to the town square, and he hadn’t planned on stopping then. 

 

He walked up the stairs by the cinema, and ended up at the end of the street. With nothing else to do, he pulled out the recorder, and started speaking. 

 

“The situation is growing aggravating. I followed the person who stole my notes into a kind of dead end street.” He said. “... and now he’s vanished.”

 

“Picture me, standing here at the edge of the world, stripped of my writings.” He’d really lost his notes. The man from his room was gone, and with him, the notes he needed to finish his studies. 

 

“I wonder who on earth would steal a paper on quantum physics?” The woman from the cinema had followed him, something he only just noticed, and was apparently just as stumped as him. 

 

“Do you like ghost stories?” A strange thing to ask someone you’ve just met, but if that’s what she wanted to go with, then that’s just fine. “It is said that a Proto-Germanic cult used to live up here in the mountains. They prayed to the spirits of the forest.”

 

A slightly odd topic to start talking about, but Tannhauser wasn’t complaining. Other people’s interests had always interested him.

 

“I know it’s a long shot, but maybe this visitor of yours is one of those spirits?”

 

“Evil spirits?” He asked, not believing a single thing she’d just said. 

 

“Nonsense, I was just trying to mess with you.”  _ Oh, thank god _ . “What was your name again? Tannhauser? Name’s Gretchen. I’m an anthropologist. In fact, those old Proto-Germanic ritual grounds just so happen to be my special subject! One of them is supposedly somewhere around here, though I haven’t been able to find it yet.”

 

“Gretchen. Well met.” He said. “Now, that’s all well and good, but what am I going to do without my notes?”

 

“You know what? I’m going to help you track down that burglar! It looks like he escaped with one of the old gondolas. I bet he’s hiding somewhere in the mountains.” She said. “...which … incidentally… is also where I was heading.”

 

“Come on, you’re a scientist!” She continued. “You’re coming with me and now you’re going to help me find this ritual site! Who knows, maybe you’ll even find your evil spirit there…” He had to admit, it was starting to sound a bit interesting. If he didn’t find 

“The one with an interest in quantum whatchamacallits.” 

 

It was around this time that Tannhauser had had enough, and reached into his jacket for the pack of cigarettes he kept there. Just one more. Two people have made fun of your profession, so just one more cigarette, and  _ then _ you’ll quit. It’s fine. 

 

“You scratch my back, I scratch yours?” Gretchen said. “So, what do you say? You with me?”

 

“I…” He tried. 

 

“Ha! I knew you had the spirit of adventure in you!”  _ That’s not at all what I was going to say!  _ “Are you ready to go? I am ready to go!” She said. “‘The early bird catches the bird’ and all that! We have to find a way up the mountain! It would be easier if we used the cable car.”

 

“I reckon that’s also what our friend thought.”  _ Friend? _

 

“The cable car doesn’t appear to be in exactly pristine condition. What do you think?” He asked after putting out his cigarette. 

 

“Don’t worry, I’m sure I can fix this!” She exclaimed. She seemed very sure about her abilities. So sure that Tannhauser almost believed her. Almost. 


End file.
